10 May 2010

Substance is not a word that can be used to describe the coverage of the talks between the Tories and the Lib Dems. Is a deal almost agreed or is the gap between the two sides unbridgeable? What hope is there if the two sides can't agree over what to eat for lunch:

As the teams broke off for lunch, news seeped out of a difference. The Tories were tucking into sandwiches of cheese, chicken, beef or egg while the Lib Dems were munching tuna and cheese and onion sandwiches.

No doubt an expert in the field of 'sandwich mind games' will be wheeled out to give a full explanation.

He is offering to trade reform of the voting system for a two-year deal with Nick Clegg that would deliver economic and social change and, in particular, the painful cuts needed to reduce the deficit.

By offering backbenchers a free vote in the Commons on whether there should be a referendum, he knows nearly all of them will vote “no”, and may find enough anti-reform Labour MPs to form a blocking majority.

But senior sources speculate that he could eventually offer the Lib Dems a form of electoral reform based on the additional vote system (AV) or even the AV-plus devised by the Lib Dem peer Lord Jenkins – and rejected by Mr Blair – more than a decade ago. Both maintain the constituency link that Tories say is essential, and both require voters to express a second preference.